Meaty Mushroom Sausage Rolls

I don’t think I’d be the first vegan to admit that there are some foods out there that just cannot be replicated and ‘veganised’ (no, I know that’s not a real word, but let’s just go with it). More often than not, they’re the foods I miss most. Like omelettes. As much as I hoped that a tofu omelette would do the job, it just doesn’t cut it. I thought this was the case for sausage rolls too. I used to love sausage rolls in all their processed meaty glory. But now, being vegan, it’s obviously quite tricky to replicate both the texture and flavour of a sausage roll. I’m not going to lie and tell you that these taste exactly like a good, old-fashioned sausage roll, but I will tell you that they taste pretty freaking wonderful (even by a meat-eater’s standard… Winning).

These sausage rolls are the answer to those annoying meat-eaters who constantly ask you where you get your protein from. The filling is made almost entirely from mushrooms. Mushrooms are packed with vitamins and minerals (Vitamins B and D, selenium, potassium, copper, beta-glucens, iron etc.) and in addition to their high protein levels, they’re just generally great. Mushrooms absorb flavour extremely well, which is why they’re such a great meat substitute in this recipe. Plus, the texture of mushrooms can be considered quite ‘meaty’.

Let’s get started on the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

2-3 celery stalks

2 cloves garlic (or 2tbsp minced garlic)

1tbsp olive oil

500g white button mushrooms (you really can use any mushrooms you like, but these absorb flavour really well)

1tbsp dijon mustard

100mls white wine

1-2 generous handfuls finely chopped parsley

100g fresh breadcrumbs (literally just chuck some old-ish bread into a food processor and process until fine breadcrumbs are formed)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 sheets ready made puff pastry (defrosted)

Almond or soy milk

Sesame seeds

Method:

Finely chop both the onion and garlic.

In a food processor, blitz the celery for a few seconds. (Alternatively you could just finely chop it, but I was lazy… And the food processor creates finer, smaller pieces)

In a big saucepan, pour in the olive oil and add the onion, garlic and celery. Cook until soft and caramelised (approx. 8-10 minutes).

Again in the food processor, blitz all of the mushrooms. Don’t process for so long that the mushrooms form a paste. Just enough for very small/fine chunks to be created.

Add the mushrooms to the saucepan, making sure that all ingredients are well combined.

After 1-2 minutes, add a generous tablespoon of mustard and the white wine (once it starts to cook, the alcohol will evaporate and you’ll be left with the wine flavour, so don’t stress about the alcohol content).

Let the mixture simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Once the liquid has been absorbed, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl, add the mushroom mixture along with the parsley and breadcrumbs. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. Leave to one side.

Cut the pastry in half, length ways and brush with plant-based milk. You’ll now have four sheets of pastry.

Use a quarter of the mushroom mixture per sheet of pastry, spreading the mixture evenly along the middle of the pastry.

Fold one side of the pastry over the mushroom mixture, then press it down around the filling (and to close off the edges).

Use a fork to press the sides to seal.

Brush with almond milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Cut the sausage rolls into even pieces (roughly 4-5 per sheet)

Place onto a tray at 200 degrees celcius for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.